By Richard Johnstone in Birmingham | 27 June 2012
The plan to put a struggling London NHS trust into administration underlines the need for hospitals to be financially sustainable in the future, the chief executive of the NHS in England said today
Addressing the Local Government Association conference in Birmingham, Sir David Nicholson said this was the reason for the ‘action we have taken in the last 24 hours' in relation to the South London Healthcare NHS Trust. He added that the need to make hospitals financially sound was also behind the drive to make them all foundation trusts by April 2013.
The government’s Health and Social Care Act was designed ‘to shift the centre of gravity’ in the health service towards local government, he added. Councils are being given control of public health funding, as well as forming part of health and wellbeing boards that will agree health priorities for a local area.
This controversial legislation created ‘opportunities’, including the integration of health and social care, Nicholson said.
However, coupled with the financial challenges in the NHS, it was also creating ‘a turbulence’ in the system.
Nicholson told delegates that ‘the thing I am determined will not happen as we go through this major transition is that we will lose control of the money’.
He warned that this had happened before, when the Labour government’s health reforms were introduced around 2004. There was now a centralisation of power in the health service ahead of the start of the new system, he admitted. ‘You will see that in reality, while much of the talk is about localism, in practice I have more national control over the money in the NHS than we have ever had.
‘I don’t apologise for that, I think it’s a very important thing for us to do. My ambition is to get to April 2013 and have every Clinical Commissioning Group in this country with no legacy debt and a balanced position going forward. I think we can make that a reality, to give the best possible chance for success.’
‘We’ve taken decisive action to help get organisations ready for a future that is clinically and financially sustainable. We also need providers that are responsive to what local people want, and there are services on the cusp of health and social care that have failed people in the past.’
Nicholson also confirmed that the LGA and the NHS were working on a compact to ensure the new devolved system ‘happens in practice’ from next April.
He added: ‘We have already had a lot of conversations, we are confident we can make that happen. We’re committed to transferring resources to the social care and reconfiguring the way that we deliver services is very important.’
David Rogers, chair of the LGA's Community Wellbeing Board, added that the compact would agree to ‘shared objectives’.
However, he added: ‘Collaboration must go beyond the compact at a local level, it must be embedded [in services] at the new local level.'
The plan to put a struggling London NHS trust into administration underlines the need for hospitals to be financially sustainable in the future, the chief executive of the NHS in England said today
Addressing the Local Government Association conference in Birmingham, Sir David Nicholson said this was the reason for the ‘action we have taken in the last 24 hours' in relation to the South London Healthcare NHS Trust. He added that the need to make hospitals financially sound was also behind the drive to make them all foundation trusts by April 2013.
The government’s Health and Social Care Act was designed ‘to shift the centre of gravity’ in the health service towards local government, he added. Councils are being given control of public health funding, as well as forming part of health and wellbeing boards that will agree health priorities for a local area.
This controversial legislation created ‘opportunities’, including the integration of health and social care, Nicholson said.
However, coupled with the financial challenges in the NHS, it was also creating ‘a turbulence’ in the system.
Nicholson told delegates that ‘the thing I am determined will not happen as we go through this major transition is that we will lose control of the money’.
He warned that this had happened before, when the Labour government’s health reforms were introduced around 2004. There was now a centralisation of power in the health service ahead of the start of the new system, he admitted. ‘You will see that in reality, while much of the talk is about localism, in practice I have more national control over the money in the NHS than we have ever had.
‘I don’t apologise for that, I think it’s a very important thing for us to do. My ambition is to get to April 2013 and have every Clinical Commissioning Group in this country with no legacy debt and a balanced position going forward. I think we can make that a reality, to give the best possible chance for success.’
‘We’ve taken decisive action to help get organisations ready for a future that is clinically and financially sustainable. We also need providers that are responsive to what local people want, and there are services on the cusp of health and social care that have failed people in the past.’
Nicholson also confirmed that the LGA and the NHS were working on a compact to ensure the new devolved system ‘happens in practice’ from next April.
He added: ‘We have already had a lot of conversations, we are confident we can make that happen. We’re committed to transferring resources to the social care and reconfiguring the way that we deliver services is very important.’
David Rogers, chair of the LGA's Community Wellbeing Board, added that the compact would agree to ‘shared objectives’.
However, he added: ‘Collaboration must go beyond the compact at a local level, it must be embedded [in services] at the new local level.'
